Afghan woman pushed back into the 1990s: The Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan

February 28, 2023
After two decades out of power, The Taliban has reinstated its control over Afghanistan, creating a motif of their past tyrannical policies implemented to marginalize religious minorities, women and girls. Around its initial inception, the Taliban is one of the biggest Sunni Islamist national movements in modern history (National Counterterrorism Center). They established the Islamic […]

Like South Vietnam, Afghanistan Was Not Too Big to Fail

August 19, 2022
This article was published by American University in Cairo’s Cairo Review of Global Affairs. It was published as part of UCF’s partnership with AUC, thanks to the generous support of Jonathan and Nancy Wolf. Too big to fail is an expression principally associated with unstable financial institutions. During the 2008 financial crisis, the Bush Administration […]

Afghanistan: Objectivity Lost

August 19, 2022
This article was first published by American University in Cairo’s Cairo Review of Global Affairs. It was published as part of UCF’s partnership with AUC, thanks to the generous support of Jonathan and Nancy Wolf. What a difference a year makes. On the tarmac of Hamid Karzai International Airport August 4, 2021, just days before […]

From Kabul to Kyiv?

June 30, 2022
In a few short weeks, the Taliban will celebrate the anniversary of the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan. For most Americans, August 15 will be just another day. The media will broadcast graphic footage of the evacuation from Kabul last summer but with U.S. troops home, the public has now moved on to other matters, primarily […]

U.S. Uncertainty Doesn’t End With Afghanistan

October 28, 2021
For its own good, and for that of the world as a whole, the United States must clarify its mission and understand its priorities, writes David Dumke The recent US withdrawal from Afghanistan did not look good. Scenes of Afghans desperately trying to escape the victorious Taliban and the death of 13 service members served […]

Afghan All-Girls Robotics Team Designs Low-Cost Ventilator

July 27, 2020
An all-girls robotics team invented an inexpensive new ventilator model that will help the thousands of Covid-19 patients in their homeland (Good News Network). The Afghan Robotics Team, which has won international awards for its robots, started work in March when the pandemic hit the war-torn nation (Reuters). The ventilator can be replicated for as […]

Rockets Hit US Air Base in Afghanistan

April 12, 2020
Five rockets struck Bagram airfield in Afghanistan on Thursday with no casualties reported, according to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan (Reuters). ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes weeks after a deal between the Taliban and the United States (Al Jazeera). The Afghan affiliate of ISIS, the Islamic State Khorasan, was not included […]

U.S. to Reduce Afghan Aid by $1 billion

March 31, 2020
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a decision to slash U.S. aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion (Reuters). Pompeo stated that Washington was “disappointed” with the rival Afghan leaders who have failed to form a government following last year’s disputed presidential elections (NPR). In September’s election, incumbent Ashraf Ghani was declared the […]